Jawan kills four troopers

SHEENA K.

Raipur, Dec. 25: A CRPF jawan opened fire on his colleagues as they slept in their barracks in Chhattisgarh’s restive Dantewada district, killing four constables in a midnight mayhem that initially appeared to be a Maoist attack.

One jawan was critically wounded in the firing at the camp of the paramilitary force’s 111th battalion in Aranpur, about 60km from the Dantewada district headquarters and 350km from state capital Raipur.

“Deep Kumar Tiwari, the CRPF jawan posted in F company of the CRPF’s 111th battalion, opened fire on the jawans who were sleeping,” Dantewada superintendent of police Narendra Khare said.

Two companies, D and F, had been deployed in the area to combat Maoists in the rebel-affected zone.

Khare said Tiwari had been arrested and preliminary interrogation suggested he was ill and not in a mentally stable condition. Some of his colleagues had apparently passed some comments that upset the Lucknow native. But further details, Khare said, can be known only after a thorough investigation.

Sources said it was around 10 minutes after midnight when sound of gunfire jolted awake the entire camp. The jawans on duty took up position thinking it was a Maoist attack before it emerged that the story was different.

Khare said the five sleeping jawans in the barracks were hit before they could react. While three died on the spot, one succumbed to his injuries in hospital.

The fifth jawan is under treatment in a hospital where his condition is reported to be critical.